


Campfire Stories

by lobsteroid



Category: Emergency! (TV 1972)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Crushes, Cuddling & Snuggling, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:21:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28331544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lobsteroid/pseuds/lobsteroid
Summary: After an accidental outburst due to a lack of tolerance for cold weather, Johnny and Hank end up taking a Christmas camping trip to ease their minds. Johnny struggles with self esteem once revealing his failing love life, Hank swoops in to help, only to realize he feels the same way.
Relationships: Johnny Gage /Hank Stanley
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11





	Campfire Stories

**Author's Note:**

  * For [worldsworstclown](https://archiveofourown.org/users/worldsworstclown/gifts).



> this is my first full length fic hope y'all enjoy ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

California’s Autumn can actually be quite frosty, despite what most would assume. Around the middle of October is when the breezes that send Johnny into a shivering fit begin to come through. 

Flowing through the huge doors at the front of the station, cascading over the scrawny man like he was their prime target. He began to think it was unfair- the way that the rest of the crew would be seemingly completely unaffected. 

Why him? Is it some sort of ancestral curse that he was unaware of? Or was it simply that his cold tolerance was far worse than his friends? Regardless, he was fed up. Not to mention just that, but Johnny was also the only man of the crew that had no one to cuddle up with. The loneliness was biting him in the ass just as badly as the winds were. 

Time flies when you're having fun, or so they say. Frozen nights pass by quicker than anticipated. Johnny began to wonder how he would survive all of December with how brutal he was currently shivering. 

“I swear man, the second I become rich I'm gonna buy out every coat store in town,” scowled John. Roy was walking beside him, half listening, and only nodding so he doesn't have to necessarily reply. John was spread lackadaisically across two chairs in the lounge, forcing the other men to work their sitting arrangements around him.

“You know John, you might just consider gaining a little weight? The more meat you got on ya, the warmer you'll be,” a sarcastic reply erupted from an irate Chet. 

The youngest of the crew sat up with a hurt look upon his face, eyebrows furrowing at the response. “I don't need your ridiculing, Chet. I just need more long sleeve uniforms. I don't need THIS.” The last phrase came out far more aggressively than the paramedic had intended, causing the room to silence.

As if that wasn't uncomfortable enough, the disruption was loud enough to bring Captain Stanley from his office into the room. The attention moved from the yelling paramedic to the 6’3 Captain- who had annoyance written plainly across his face. 

Hank’s mood read as stern, the no-nonsense look he was directing towards his men was strong enough to knock a rowdy 5 year old into line. “Gage, can I see you in my office, pal?” 

‘Fuck,’ Johnny silently cursed. He paused for a moment, swallowing the anger that was swiftly turning into fear. “Sure, Cap,” came the soft reply. 

Hank stood in the doorway, arms crossed against his chest as he waited for his crew to return to whatever they were doing beforehand.

The men quickly caught on to their Captain’s silent glare and began resuming their duties.  
Gage approached the elder, head bowed a bit as he squeezed through the door frame and the other man. 

He made his way into the office, heart pounding in his ears as he started to replay the situation over in his head. He screamed at Chet over nothing. And even worse, his Captain heard it and, clearly, was unhappy about it.

“John, what's gotten into you?” The question brought him back to reality, causing his head to snap up at the sound. “Uh- well Cap, I-” He began, before being swiftly cut off by his superior. “Johnny, I want the truth, now. You got it? All of it.” Again, the younger swallowed down his fear.

“Alright.. Well, you see, I can't seem to find myself. Now I know what you're thinkin’- nothin’ unusual for me. But Cap, it's..it's different lately. It's hard to say what I’m feeling. I can't...see myself in the mirror anymore, yanno? It's like I’m just staring at some stranger in my place.”

He paused, finally looking up from the oil spot on his boot that was apparently incredibly interesting. “I've been alone for so long now, and I don't like it.”

Hank was puzzled. One of the most reserved men he had ever met was currently confessing to him a plethora of heavy information, all while maintaining the saddest puppy eyes the older man had ever witnessed. It tore at his heart, the way John appeared to be so lifeless and sad at the same time.

The men shared a longing stare, only to be broken once Johnny let his head fall back down, noting to the fact that he wished to be through talking. But he could see it. Captain Stanley could see the plea for affection reaching out from John’s gaze.

He hadn't expected it, however. In all the years of being John’s captain, not once had Hank even anticipated the thought of Johnny sharing one sentence of his feelings with him. Let alone the entire monologue he spoke solely with his eyes. 

“Cap?” Hank was caught off guard, having been nonchalantly staring into John’s eyes for, apparently, far too long. He hadn't even realized that John was staring back, having lifted his head back up some time ago. “Hmm?” Was all he could muster, having to look towards the tacky homemade clock of Chief McConnike to regain his composure.

That instantly removed the precarious thought he was having. Johnny’s eyes are so captivating.. sometimes it's hard to do anything but dream of how they'd look even closer, illuminated softly by the moonlight. 

“Cap..” Again, his thoughts were interrupted. “Yeah, John?” Finally, he was aware enough to respond properly. Blue eyes shifted to meet a curious look from his subordinate, followed by Gage beginning to silently question Hank’s mental whereabouts. 

Johnny’s previous confession was still hanging in the air, having yet to be responded to by the Captain. 

“Oh, right.” It dawned upon the elder that he should have been speaking, rather than staring. “I'm sorry, Johnny. I'm a bit tired from the all-nighter we had last shift,” He gave the man a light hearted smile, sitting up from the corner of the desk he was leaning upon. 

“Have you tried talking to Roy about it? Or.. or what about Doctor Brackett? He might have some advice for you rather than your Captain just looking like a bumbling, useless idiot.” 

It's true. He has some issues with sharing his own thoughts as of late. In the absence of his marriage, Hank came to terms with the fact that she was the only person that would really grasp what he was saying. 

“Cap, you're no idiot. ‘Specially not cause you're just confused on how to feel,” Johnny had that determined eyebrow furrow plastered upon his face. He was serious.

“And it's not fair for you to think that you're ‘useless’ just cause you don't know what I’m feelin, if you're confused about yourself, I definitely don't expect you to know how to comfort me instantaneously.”

The young man’s hands were moving throughout the air, practically flying around the room as he desperately tried to get across to his superior that he did not in fact mind that he was unsure of how to help.

Johnny gets that- very, very well, in fact. It's difficult for the both of them; feelings and grasping their true meaning. Without their knowing it, the two shared a large abundance of things in common. Practical soulmates in the making. 

He was tearing up. Hank Stanley, the Station 51 Captain with the major bravado effect, was getting emotional over one of his crew showing an understanding of him. 

However, Johnny's interpretation of the tears was negative. “Oh, Cap .. I-” He approached the other man, frown taking form upon his lips as he continued.

John dug into his shirt pocket for a moment, then reached out to offer Hank the folded tissue within his palm. “I didn't mean to upset you.”

The phrase rang an alarm in Hank’s head, causing him to swipe away at his eyes and instead reach down to grab the hand reaching up to him cautiously. 

“No no, it's alright. It's just that no one's seemed to bother reminding me that feelings are normal. Ever since our divorce, I haven't even given myself the time to think about groceries.” 

Not a moment later, Hank’s hand was clasped around John’s far scrawnier one. Elongated fingers placed so gently as to silently say 'I've got you, we're alright.’ 

Longing looks were shared between the two men. Blue upon brown, and the brown pair were being blessed by the golden December sunshine falling upon the Captain’s bold features. Meanwhile, John’s softer bone structure was radiating, having been highlighted so effortlessly by the warm light. 

Both men were so preoccupied with visually inspecting one another that neither had heard Roy open the door. Hank only noticed once the strawberry blonde’s head came into his field of vision.

Johnny noticed how the Captain looked away from him and towards the door. He instantly looked down to their hands, which were still touching at that point, and began to jumble for freedom. 

“Cap- uh..here's a tissue.” The younger murmured out, speaking just barely above a whisper. It seemed his voice was compromised. 

Hank’s, on the other hand, came out far too strongly. “Great, thank you Johnny, good talk.”

He snatched the tissue, brought it up to his nose and began to blow obnoxiously loud as to disturb Roy into leaving. 

Gage stood up and rapidly looked his Captain up and down, then over to his partner. 

Roy was intrigued. He had just caught his emotionally reserved partner and their Captain in what seemed to be a very intimate experience.

However, he never thought either of the men to be interested in one another. He had seen Johnny captivate many men over the years of their shared rescues, but not once had he necessarily picked up on Hank and John talking that much, let alone whatever this was. 

“Hey Johnny,” He spoke nonchalantly, somewhat pretending that he had seen nothing. “What were you guys talking about?” 

Johnny responded to the question with an unusually long pause, far lengthier than his usual ‘uhh,’ when faced with a dilemma. 

“Our...Camping trip?” 

He ended with an audible question mark, his eyes flickering from the bewildered redhead to the eldest of the trio. 

Roy was well aware of how immensely bad of a liar Johnny was. Captain Stanley, however, was far better at extending the truth. 

“Yeah, yeah that's right,” Cap began while rubbing his hands together, having already thrown out the tissue. “See I asked John here if he's doing anything for Christmas Eve. He said he's free, so,” Hank shrugged at his senior paramedic. “ We're going on a camping trip.” 

Time became irrelevant to Station 51 as every day seemed to be just as busy as the rest. However, the closer the days grow to Christmas, the more runs they accumulate. The more runs they accumulate, the faster time flies. Johnny was extremely grateful for that, as it as the sun was falling behind the great Californian mountains, all became calm amongst the city of Los Angeles. 

The conversation between the two paramedics and their supervisor had been constantly poked at by the rest of the shift, most notably, Chet. Even just the simple idea of Cap and John together, camping among the naked trees, was enough to make him pester them for the entirety of the month. 

All the way up to December 23, A shift’s last scheduled day for the holiday season. At least until next week, that is. The day flew by, several major runs with injuries. The men returned to base, said their goodbyes and merry wishings and went on their way. Each of them went off to celebrate the holiday in their own way. 

Hank had met John at his apartment so they could carpool in the off-road vehicle rather than meet there and potentially get stranded along the way. This way, at least they're guaranteed to have a sturdy mode of transportation. 

Naturally, Johnny was behind the wheel, considering it was his car. He had never necessarily gone anywhere with anyone besides Roy- and apparently the pressure of Hank’s stomach growling prematurely was enough to subliminally convince the younger to floor it. 

Stanley took note of how swiftly the night was rolling by him as he gazed across the grassy fields spread across the mountain top. The stars were whipping by Hank’s face so rapidly, he would barely take a glimpse at them before they disappeared into the distance. “Johnny, take it easy, pal. We’ve got all night.” 

This caused the driver to sigh, nodding slightly as he realized just how far down his foot was. The gas pedal was nearly invisible, having been subjected to being pushed into the floorboard. 

“Sorry, Cap, just nervous, I guess. Haven't been campin’ in.. I don't know how long.” John glanced over to his passenger, shooting him a half-assed apologetic smile. 

Stanley closed his eyes briefly, allowing the fair bit of wind coming through the cracked window to hit his face. He was absolutely exhausted; both mentally and physically.

He spent the greater part of the shift backing the linemen during a major structure fire. When controlling hoses Hank drains rather fast as of late- not to mention that he also hadn't been able to scoop any of the coffee remaining before it was time he went to John’s. 

“Johnny, you don't have to call me Cap here. We're not scheduled, so as far as you're concerned, I’m Hank Stanley and not your Captain.” The remark was sytrical but backed with genuine emotion. He reopened his eyes, looked to Gage out of the corner of his eye and smiled. 

“Me neither, haven't gone camping in.. forever. I hope it's not too cold,” He grimaced at the thought, especially considering how Johnny only remembered to bring the one tent. 

Alas, Hank’s one worry became a reality. Despite the thick, woolen coat he adorned, he was shivering heavily while scavenging for firewood to cook their supper upon.

“Christ, it's gotta be 40 degrees out here,” came from John with an angry grumble to follow up with. While the other man went for the firewood, Johnny was tasked with building the tent.

Hank argued it was a fair consequence for Gage forgetting the other tent at home. Johnny wasn't so keen to agree, but went through with it anyhow. 

He finally collected enough logs, sticks, twigs and all sorts of dried out leaves and shrubbery to build a roaring fire. The elder brought his collection back to their home for the night and dropped it all besides where Johnny was now squatting. 

The brunette had his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth as he gingerly brought the mallet down upon the last stake- cementing their tent into the ground with pride. “Well, looky, here, she's done! Beautiful work, if I do say so myself.” Johnny set the mallet down beside his foot, and then twisted to look over his shoulder at the Captain. “Whaddya think, Hank? Not too bad huh?” 

“It's a bit small, isn't it, pal?” Stanley frowned once again as he looked over the tent, shrugging in acceptance afterwards. “It'll have to do. I'm not sleeping out in this wind.” Johnny nodded in agreement, it was only an 8x8 foot tent. “I'm small, it'll be alright.” 

They gathered around the generous flame and stuffed their faces with the baked potatoes and a hearty bowl of steak and vegetable soup on the side. The moon had taken its full form upon their cozy campground, enough to settle Johnny’s previous nerves of “what if there's a bear oh god or what about a coyote those run loose up here we’re dead meat man dead meat call me crazy but I swear I just heard a branch crack oh man it's the bears.” 

Fluorescent moonlight was equally as beautiful falling upon Johnny's wispy eyelashes to cast a stunning shadow upon his red cheeks. 

Hank had caught himself fully invested in everything Johnny was doing, looking at him far more frequently than ever before. He was just absolutely wonderful to talk to and be around. He was understanding and took care attention to each word Hank would say.

Also, perhaps he's a bit biased, but John sitting directly beside him on the stone they called a seat so he could see him up close was a slight blessing. Either way, the taller man could not have been happier with his choice of camping partner for the Christmas weekend. 

The men stayed put for the remainder of their outdoor activities. Knees grazing against one another had become routine to the both of them as they were practically sitting upon each other. Mostly for warmth, partially because there was nothing else but dirt to sit upon. Neither were complaining, though. 

Midnight rolled around sooner than expected. The bitter winds that were now blowing through frequently prompted the men to put out the fire and head into the tent.

Once inside, John lit the miniature lamp he brought and then began to puff up his pillow and blanket sooner after. Hank mimicked the actions, preparing himself for slumber but only until they reached a problem.

Hank was quite tall, the single person tent could barely contain his feet after being zipped shut. Johnny took notice. 

“Johnny-” He began before cutting himself off with a pause. He was unsure of how to word this, entirely unaware of how John would react was, frankly, terrifying. “I don't think-” he paused again, reaching up to his face to rub at his skin out of aggravation. “I don't think I can physically fit any other way besides right against you.” 

His sentence was met with wide brown eyes staring up at him, and for both men, the atmosphere became more than slightly awkward. Realistically, Gage was aware of how little space was offered within their tent, he had only hoped his hunch was wrong. “M’kay.”

He wasn't sure if he was hearing correctly, so he repeated his previous statement. “Is that alright? For us to be basically squished together?” 

Johnny nodded, hair flopping out of place as per usual when he was overly enthusiastic about something. “You've never made me uncomfortable before Hank, I got no problems with it.” Then, he stretched out his arms as far as possible without hitting the other man and let out an impossibly long yawn. 

Without hesitation the paramedic then laid dawn, squirming into a comfortable position on his side with the sleeping bag draped over him. 

Hank took this as his signal to lay down so both parties could, eventually, fall asleep. 

Suddenly, the elder’s mind was flooded solely with the man in front of him. He intended to just be in front of John, but due to the sheer lack of elbow room between them led to John’s nose almost brushing against his. It was trying for him to portray what went on within his head, but at that very second, he had an epiphany.

John Gage was far too pretty, and much too loving to be alone on Christmas Eve. 

For what could be approximated to the third time that day, the two were allowing themselves to simply soak up the picture of the man in front of them. Broad shoulders were just barely touching much softer ones; legs already tangled together as an attempt to make themselves as comfortable as possible with the hard dirt beneath their thin fabrics. 

Hank was verging on dangerous territory. Heart palpitations were becoming strong and irregular, but only because of one thing. 

John.

From the way those brown puppy eyes were staring back at him, he figured it was worth a shot. 

He inched just ever so closer to him, right hand naturally falling upon the nearest surface, Johnny’s hip. There was no shifting from the shorter one, so he lifted his head up so they were once again eye level, but only temporarily. For Hank had finally gathered a sense of clarity. 

Before he even began to work his lips forward, John met him halfway. That was all the go ahead he needed. The two shared a soft moving kiss, nothing too much or too fast. It was absolutely perfect for him. Johnny’s hand reached up to cup the side of Hank’s cheek, while Hank moved his to hold the paramedic’s back with a gentle touch. They stayed like that for a while, neither daring to risk losing the moment they were sharing so intimately. 

Unfortunately, a gust of wind that rocked the little tent sent a shiver down Johnny’s spine, forcing him to curl away and unintentionally squish full force into his superior. Not that it was any sort of issue for Hank. 

Sure, he would've loved to continue to feel his heart speed up while he kissed John so softly he swore he could've tasted buttercream. But having him desperately cling to his neck while trying to steal all of his body heat wasn't a downgrade to him, just a different way to get his point across. 

The shivering paramedic was fully pressed into the Captain, head tucked into the crevice of his neck to keep his nose from freezing off. 

Hank took the liberty to loosen one of his arms from the man’s waist and reach out to slip the remainder of the jumbo sleeping bag over the two of them. They fit quite well into one another, somewhat resembling a freshly completed 3D puzzle. 

The action brought Johnny to lean his head back as best he could, ending up in a weird, half-tilted sort of pose. However, he couldn't look prettier to Hank. 

“Merry Christmas, Johnny.” He spoke quietly, allowing the faint light of the lamp to lull him into a heavenly, sleepy headspace. 

Johnny replied the best way he could, peppering a trail of kisses against Hank’s neck and the underside of his jaw. Clearly, it was a good night for the both of them. 

“Merry Christmas, Cap.” He murmured into the skin before him, eyes falling shut while he shifted in place once more. Without moving any further, he said, “Cap? Are we gonna..” Johnny trailed off to exhale deeply into the man’s shoulder. “Gonna start dating?” 

Hank squeezed the skin beneath his palm, pressing his lips into the side of John’s head. “If you'll have me.” One more lackadaisical kiss was placed before he turned his head to blow out the lamp entirely. The space was now completely dark, but it was irrelevant anyhow. Both felt safe and comfortable being pressed into one another.

“Best present I coulda ever asked for.”  
Johnny concluded his sentence with another delicate kiss to the corner of Hank’s jaw, just behind where the bone ends to give him that little shiver of happiness. 

The two shared the remainder of the evening entirely tangled in one another, but not once did either have any sort of issue. Once the morning sun rose up, they decided upon staying put for a while before they would head back to the apartment. Besides, they were comfortable. They were each other’s perfect Christmas present, after all, no need to disturb the wrapping.


End file.
